BBC to axe F1 from 2013? Confirmed - F1 will be on Sky from 2012

[Porceliamone]

I'm not paying Sky to watch F1. End of. They can deliver it to me by electronic neuro-muscular implant and give me real-time drivers time vision. Hell, they can even deliver intravenous doses of adrenaline and muscle stimulators to make me feel what the drivers feel. I'm not paying those fuckers a penny to watch F1.

 

[mjo]

I'm not paying Sky to watch F1. End of. They can deliver it to me by electronic neuro-muscular implant and give me real-time drivers time vision. Hell, they can even deliver intravenous doses of adrenaline and muscle stimulators to make me feel what the drivers feel. I'm not paying those ****ers a penny to watch F1.

To risk sounding like an MP, Hear, Hear!

 

[no-FIAt-please]

Looks like Brundle is close to signing a deal with Sky.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/mo...-Sky-TVs-new-Formula-One-commentary-team.html

 

[Josh]

Telegraph was wrong,I didn't sign £1m Sky contract today. Calmly working through it, will end up doing what satisfies me most professionally

http://twitter.com/#!/MBrundleF1/status/128538580745330688

 

[teabagyokel]

I'll bet there'll be no adverts during the race...build up and following the race is another matter. Expect ads every 3 minutes, for 3 minutes.

Yes, I should expect so. But compare that with 45 unbroken minutes of Eddie bloody Jordan and it suddenly seems a decent deal.

 

[mjo]

While the BBC cut back on f1, they continue to lavishly spend on wall-to-wall coverage of Wimbledon:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/15470325.stm

 

[teabagyokel]

"We know that Wimbledon fortnight has a very special place in the hearts of the UK public. We are delighted that our new agreement ensures coverage of The Championships remains free to air and available to licence fee payers."

Either you like tennis or you don't. But it is a disgrace, in a sport with four co-equal tournaments, the BBC has the rights to three and doesn't bother showing two of them! Why aren't we successful at tennis? Is it because no-one gives a monkey's toss about it, but quite likes the social bollocks hanging around Wimbledon? Possibly.

 

[Jos the Boss]

Anything to see Andy Murray in the semi finals again!

 

[Vortex]

Tell you another thing why I hate SKY.

SKY rang us up and gave us the HD package for 3 months for free as a lot of existing customers had been complaining about the benefits new customers were getting yet existing customers got bugger all. Before the 3 months was up we had to just ring up and cancel it if we didn’t want to continue it.

Before the 3 months were up we rang and cancelled it, yes the pictures clearer on a few selected channels but not worth paying extra money for. So rang up, cancelled, you sure? Yes! You very sure? YES! Cancelled. Done!

The free trial ran out, the channels remained, checked bill, charged for the HD package! Rang up and sorted it, checked SKY a few days later, HD still there bill still there. Rang up again, sorted it, bill removed HD will be removed at end of month.

End of month comes, HD channels turned off, finally! Today, SKY bill comes through with a penalty charge of £50 for early cancellation of a 12month HD channel subscription! Off a 3 month free trial???!!!

More hassle! got to get that sorted out now, I hate SKY so much, every time you want to cancel or change something its an absolute farce and they try and put in fake charges or blocks to stop you or cost you money. There’s no way I’m getting Sports, I’m more likely to cancel the lot!

 

[gethinceri]

I feel for you 'cos i had a similar experience. How much have you spent on phone calls sorting it?

 

[Vortex]

God knows, but to be honest its mostly emails now because with phone calls they’ve never got a record of your conversation nor do you have any proof that the person said they’d turn it off on such a date or at no charge etc etc.

So we email and send them their reply emails as proof of what’s said as well as the phone calls. Pain in the ass!

 

[Jos the Boss]

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/f1-brundle-leaving-bbc-for-sky-says-eddie-jordan/

 

[mjo]

I suppose we should take this with some caution as Eddie Jordan hasn't said this publicly, only by word of mouth. And the French journalist could have easily omitted the words 'think' and 'might'.

 

[no-FIAt-please]

Apparantly the BBC/Sky F1 deal was completed in under 2 days, BBC were fast to sell F1 out there...

 

[Fenderman]

If that is true then the people responsible should be investigated for failing to carry out a full and transparent process of due diligence. Since the BBC is a publicly funded institution such a rapidly concluded deal must be entirely beyond the acceptable norms let alone rules of governance. I wonder how this has escaped the attention of their own legal department and the legal fraternity in general.

Whilst I would like to believe that this major transgression has occurred, I actually doubt it. Considering the fact that the rumour mill was active for a period of months leading up to the deal, I suspect that the truth is that the work behind the deal actually took quite some time. Completing (or more precisely concluding) a deal in a couple of days is just one phase of a process that would include negotiating the details of the deal, drafting the contracts and subjection to legal opinion (by the legal departments of all parties involved) prior to conclusion. I would also expect ministerial approval from the appropriate government department. That would certainly not have been possible in a 48 hour time frame without a multiplicity of illegal actions by the parties involved.

The disgrace in all of this has been the total disregard for the interests of Television Licence fee paying public and our opinion. if I am wrong about the process that has taken place and that it has been some two day wonder then the law will certainly have been broken in several areas. Again, I use the term "due diligence" which is a requirement for any contractual arrangements to be fully scrutinised and thoroughly audited to ensure compliance with the laws of the land and, in the case of the BBC, in compliance with it's Charter.

 

[no-FIAt-please]

It comes from Sky's managing director.

http://www.sportindustry.biz/news/view/10496/f1-sky-deal-done-in-48-hours

 

[Fenderman]

From what little detail there was in the interview it looks like the Sky deal with Bernie/CVC was indeed done in a "couple of days" but I suspect the BBC's contractual issues with F1 took somewhat longer work through. It's one thing for a new deal to be struck in the private sector but quite another with regard to the Beeb since they had a contract in place that was supposed to last into 2013. I'm not too bothered about Sky having a deal to broadcast F1. My issue is with the Beeb not covering all of the races.

It's interesting that Sky's MD says that covering boxing has given them problems because the fans have got bored with paying to see fights that basically didn't live up to the hype. What do they think is going to happen when we get a few races that turn F1 fans off? Pay per view has damaged professional boxing because fans find it hard to follow their favourites through their careers. They become detached from the boxer and thus the sport. If they turn to Eurosport all they get is second rate fighters battling for second and third rate championships. I watched some last night. Absolute garbage.

I will now make one of my rare predictions. If the pay per view experiment goes ahead unchecked F1 will be spec' series within three years and we will be watching something else. Prototype and GT racing is good stuff to watch as well. Channel 4 and ITV take note there is a huge opportunity opening up here if you are willing to take the plunge. Give us what we want and stuff the rest of 'em!

 

[gethinceri]

Since when has it been decided that Sky F1 will be pay per view? They must be idiots.

 

[Fenderman]

It may just be my interpretation or reading between the lines. Without seeing the entire interview or a transcript thereof I may just be being pessimistic. I don't see much difference between having increased outgoings on a new subscription and pay per view under the circumstances since I can afford neither option.

 

[Porceliamone]

Sky F1 PPV fell on it's backside a few years back. I look forward to watching it fail again. I relish the prospect.